About Me

Friday, March 25, 2016

THE MARK IN AMERICA, ISSUE #2, PAGE 21

I
had a lunch meeting with my ex-Batman Adventures editor, Scott Peterson, while
visiting NYC in April ’93 (during the period when I was illustrating this
comic). He advised me that it might further my career to imitate more popular
artists, such as Neal Adams and Bernie Wrightson.

So
check out panel 3; does this look Wrightson-esque or what? Unfortunately, it
looks like ‘80’s Wrightson, like from “The Cult”. During the period when I did
this drawing (mid-’93) I dismissed everything Wrightson had done from
“Creepshow” onwards. I may have to re-assess his work from that formerly
dismissed period.

I
rather like the rest of the page as well, at least the scenes inside The
Archon’s dressing room. I chose Archon’s make-up mirror as the room’s light
source. In panel 1, I assumed that the colorist would follow my lead and throw
the background behind the middle ground figures into semi darkness. I learned
my lesson from this experience when drawing “Catwoman” issues 5 through 11 for
DC Comics in 2001/2002, making copious color notes, which I sent to the editor
along with my pencils. Unfortunately, given the lead-time, I didn’t see the
color on my first issue until I was mid-way through penciling my last, where it
glaringly obvious that the colorist not only ignored my notes but the script as
well.

I’m
not sure what I’d do differently about panel 5, but it doesn’t work somehow; there’s
something amateurish about it. Maybe there’s not enough variation in the head
heights within the composition. I think the middle/right woman’s raised arm is
too big for her head.

This
is page 21 for "The Mark" issue 2, volume 2, otherwise known as
"The Mark In America", published by Dark Horse Comics in January
1994. Written by Mike Barr, drawn by Brad Rader.